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3641Re: 'Prominencians'

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wererichertoo

Jul 13, 2006

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The tian/cian distinction that Andrew has brought up is an important
one. Just looking at 'prominencian', I don't know how it should be
pronounced. Does the ending sound like '-sian' (since 'prominence'
ends in a soft -c sound), or does the ending sound like '-shun' (as in
mathematician, statistician, etc).

If it *is* supposed to end in -shun, it should probably be spelled
'prominentian', much like 'aleutian', 'martian', etc. But then some
people might pronounce it like 'christian', which different people
pronounce in many different ways.

If you like -cian an as ending, why not use 'prominencician'?

Of the other 'English' choices suggested, I prefer prominentarian,
since it has an one obvious pronunciation, and does not have strongly
negative connotations (like prominentariat).

Ryan

>
> Some people appear to be trying to establish the term 'prominencian'.
> Before this becomes standard, I must point out that the correct
> spelling would have to be 'prominentian' - compare pairs like
> influence/influential.
>
> However, a better formation might be 'prominencer'.
>
> Andrew Usher
>